From its historically lax attitude toward gays in the military to its celebration of transgender and openly gay pop culture figures like Ataru Nakamura and Akihiro Miwa, Japan’s general attitude toward the LGBTQ community has been relatively accepting compared to some of its more puritanical and authoritarian friends.

Still, while reports of outright discrimination are somewhat rare, Japan still has no national law protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, and same-sex couples are still ineligible for the many of the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples in Japan.

Not to mention, the Human Rights Watch organization recently reported an alarming ‘epidemic’ of LGBTQ bullying in Japanese schools. However, given the fact that the majority of Japanese citizens are supportive of LGBTQ rights, and the fact that many municipalities, including Tokyo, have begun putting legal protections in place, and have begun to implement training programs geared toward spreading awareness and tolerance, we can only hope that they continue heading in the right direction.